Arise Governance - We The People - A Response to the Texas Banking Commissioner

Charles G. Cooper, Texas Banking Commissioner, sent a cease and desist to AriseBank asking them to add a disclaimer that Arise cannot be available to Texas residents. AriseBank's software is p2p and decentralized? What's next? Asking Bitcoin to add a clause to all wallets that they can't be used in Texas?

Copy of the letter sent to Arise:

This sets a dangerous precedent and the following is the response from the AriseBank governance team, in PDF and raw text.

Dear​ ​Charles​ ​G.​ ​Cooper,
Thank you for courteously notifying us of this matter. We refuse to comply with the requests you made in your
motion dated 01-05-2018.
The AriseBank software is neither hosted in a central data center, nor is it under the control of AriseBank. It’s a P2P
(Peer to peer) software, reliant on the mobile devices and personal computers of thousands of our software’s users.
The software was originally created and is maintained as a decentralized software to facilitate the storage of 704
cryptocurrencies for our software’s users. The software cannot be erased nor does the State of Texas have any sort of
regulations that prevent any of our Texas-based users from storing cryptocurrencies on their computers or cellular
devices using the AriseBank platform.
We do not maintain bank “branches” in the State of Texas, nor will AriseBank ever have a branch in the State of
Texas, being that it is a decentralized software. The only real-world interaction with AriseBank that is even possible
in the coming months, will be the use of our ATM network, that is maintained by the people who order them, place
them and utilize them for their own financial gains. These ATMs are operated under registered MTL’s that are
obtained and legally used by our manufacturers and distribution network.
We are not willing to comply or cooperate with removing the word “Bank” as we do not claim to be a financial
institution nor do we handle any financial transactions for our customers. Just like Bitcoin, we are a decentralized
software, where people handle their own financial transactions. We advertise ourselves as a software company in
“Beta”, clearly, nor do we pretend to be a financial institution in any way, shape or form.
Cryptocurrencies have long been available in this same format since 2009. Long before AriseBank was ever created.
The concept of storing, sending, spending, receiving and viewing cryptocurrency balances, holdings and other
related data in correspondence with these cryptocurrencies has long been outside the purview of the State of Texas,
The United States Government or any government entity for that matter.
As far as the FDIC-insured bank that we have agreed to acquire in recent months and are currently finalizing a deal
with at this time, will remain separate from the AriseBank software, until government regulators weigh in on the
ability for these two entities to somehow work together. We understand how this can be misconstrued but I’m glad I
was able to clear the air on this often confused M&A and would be happy to answer any questions that you may
have in regards to it.
We stand by the people that we represent, their rights and our ability to fight for those rights, in every way we
possibly can. When you filed your motion, you wanted people to believe that we were here to fool them into
thinking that we were a legacy bank, when it is absolutely clear we are here to end legacy banking as we know it or
at least make them honest, transparent and able to commingle with the cryptocurrency banks of the future. I
Address:​ ​The world, every country, every region, every city, every community. | Phone:​ 469-71-ARISE | Web:​ arisebank.com
respectfully oppose your mission to enable slavery amongst Texas residents and I will stand with force in regards to
my mission to free Texas residents from the slavery you choose to further. Because it was our mission when we
started Arise, that everyone could have freedom once again and that we would be freed of the chains given to us and
bound to us, by the men and women in positions like yours. We have met with the Arise governance, made up of 13
delegates. Our delegates have voted on our position and back our stance for a fair economy, regulated by a free
market. Unlike most companies, our company is controlled by an open and transparent community who chooses to
vote for what they believe is right. It is the true nature of transparency and the freedom that we represent.
I hope that someday, we can all agree that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is something that all Americans
deserve, in every single context that WE THE PEOPLE believe should be included as such. Because those three
words mean far more to us as people, than their definitions may entail. We thank you for bringing this issue to the
world stage and you have added momentum to these issues coming to the attention of the public, who have long
sought a fair economy, regulated by the free market. We believe the people will decide and that is the ultimate
regulation. WE THE PEOPLE have responded and we would appreciate a response. Thank you for your time.
Respectfully on behalf of the Arise governance,
Jared​ ​Rice​ ​Sr.
Chief Executive Officer
AriseBank.com

Stan, your continued endorsement of this "bank" is making me very nervous. BTS has quickly become my favorite project in the crypto-sphere, and at the same time has become my largest investment.

After reading the sleuth work done by this individual (linked below), information you must already have known, how can you continue to support Arisebank? I think a public comment to calm the nerves of the many BTS supporters concerned about this partnership is very warranted. He doesn't even mention the immediate concerns the community had with Mr. Rice's reputation as a known scammer.

I would be over-the-moon if this project was real. Sometimes things are just too good to be true. Please stop digging the hole deeper, or ease our concerns. I am sure many other like me are very on the fence about their continued investment in BTS.